Eloisa's Adventure Read Online Free PDF

and
ask anything from whoever owned it. The huge turrets were something
straight out of her worst nightmares and she hadn’t even seen the
rest of the building. What she had seen of the massive stone castle
horrified her. It was the last place she should go to seek
refuge.
    A scream
erupted from her when a loud crack of thunder sounded behind her.
It rumbled on for several moments longer than it ought to. A flash
of lightning brought about another crack, closer this time, and
altogether different. She spun around and stared in terror at the
large branch that now lay in the middle of the road. Unless she was
going to clamber through the branches now, she was left with little
choice. She had to go back the way she came.
    Unfortunately, that brought forth the very real possibility
that if she wanted to stay alive, she must knock on the door of the
first house she came across. It galled her that place of refuge was
the castle she would much rather forget. A deep sense of foreboding
swept through her at the thought of having to knock on that
particular door, but there really was nothing else she could
do.
    “You
have to do it,” she whispered.
    Dread
made her feet heavy, but she began to walk down the tree-lined
lane. She looked up at the canopy of trees that swung wildly in the
wind and shuddered when an acute sense of loneliness swept through
her. This was the worst place she could be. She needed to get out
into the fields before any more of the branches came down and she
was struck by one of them.
    Her
curse was as uncharacteristic as it was bitter as she lifted her
skirts and walked as fast as she could toward refuge. The stones
and pebbles that littered the road bit painfully through the thin
soles of her dancing slippers. She tried to avoid as many as
possible but, by the time she reached the field, her feet were
bruised and sore. Battered by the storm, Eloisa had little choice
but to head toward the one place she would much prefer to forget:
the castle. With any luck, nobody would be at home.

 
    CHAPTER
THREE

    Simeon
tucked his chin into the folds of his cloak and tugged his hat low
in a futile attempt to block out the rain. As long as he didn’t
move his head the rainwater wouldn’t go down the back of his neck
and soak his shirt. Keeping his head still though was damned near
impossible because his horse kept sliding in the muddy quagmire
that used to be his field. As a result, he was cold, tired,
thoroughly fed up, and annoyed he had to make this journey at
all.
    “Damn
it, Humphrey, slow down,” he cursed when the horse stumbled heavily
over a deep rut. He could understand the beast’s eagerness to get
out of the storm because he too would rather be anywhere else but
here.
    The last
thing he wanted to do was head back to Mitchelham Castle so soon
after his last visit but, having received that mysterious letter,
but he had no choice. When he had read the unsigned note, his first
instincts had been to toss the wretched thing into the fire and
ignore it. However, the warning it contained plagued
him.
    The
letter had come from someone in Mitchelham village who had
witnessed unusual activity in the supposedly empty castle. They
suspected someone was stealing from the place. Although no dates,
times or culprits had been mentioned, Simeon had to find out for
himself what was going on.
    After
his last visit three weeks ago he had hoped he had seen the last of
the place. Now though, Fate had drawn him back with determined
fingers, and rendered his life miserable once more.
    “Thank
you God,” he growled when a particularly loud rumble of thunder
made his horse, Humphrey, increase his pace again.
    Simeon
glared balefully at the flash of lightning that streaked across the
sky. The roiling dark clouds matched his mood and seemed to befit
the dark occasion. The only positive he could find in this
situation was that he could now get several matters settled before,
hopefully, he could leave and never come back.
    He
wished